10 Ways To Feel Better During Your Period

PMSing has been a phenomenon since time immemorial and also considered as a taboo. It is always spoken is whispers and dealt in concealment. This is the very reason various problems and rubbish myths which are completely baseless have culminated. Off late, the trend has been changing and every girl is empowered enough to speak about their conditions, problems, and complications. For some women, PMSing is quite a challenging time as we go through cramps, cravings and lots of mood swings. No, it's not something we can control but we can definitely make ourselves feel better about. There are various ways to feel better during the period and celebrate the very fact of womanhood. Let us see the topic in detail.

1. Massage

During this time, every muscle of our body seems to be tired, crampy and fragile. This is because there is a loss of nutrition from the body and also, we lessen our movements. Massage helps in the blood circulation and relieve us of various cramps and aches. It is like a therapy to attain relief from pains, cramps and enrich your overall sense of emotional and physical well-being. Massage is also the best way to control the pre-PMS pain in joints and muscles.

2. Warm It Up

Nothing is better than a hot water bag during this time of the month. This is like your best friend and it helps in so many ways that you can't even fathom. Use the hot bag in the lower abdomen which will lower the intensity of the pain naturally. This is because heat has been said to relax the uterus, as well as lessen tightening of your blood vessels and improve blood flow to the uterus, all of which can help ease your cramps and headaches. It will also keep you relaxed and reduces swelling.

3. Control Food Habits

There are various foods which you should intake during PMS. For example, avoid any kind of caffeine especially coffee and tea. It will contribute to the tremendous pain and ache. Also, avoid refined grains, red meat, salty and sour foods containing high amounts of sodium, fatty foods, junk food, etc. which will worsen the condition. During PMS, our body is weak and doesn't have the stronger immunity like before and hence, any wrong food indulgence will increase the pain.

4. Simple Exercises & Yoga

Whoever said PMSing is the time to sit back and relax are totally wrong. The more you strict yourself from any physical activity, the more you suffer. When you exercise or practice yoga, it increases blood flow to muscles via vasodilation (expansion of blood vessels). More the oxygenated blood supply to muscle tissue less will be the pain. While exercising if you can increase the rate of beatings of your heart, chances are that your body will release endorphins, which counteract the pain caused by prostaglandins (hormone-like lipid compounds) that give your uterus the signal to contract.

5. Drink Water & Juice

This is like the holy grail of nutrition and will keep pimples at bay. Drink at least 10-12 glasses of water which will help you in numerous ways during this time. Fresh fruit juices (avoid canned juices) will provide you with required vitamins and also cuts the cravings of fiber food that will bloat and cause you pain. Water will keep you well hydrated. You can also have various detox water like lemon, mint, and ginger.

6. Lavender Oil

Sometimes our body is so tired of the blood loss that even though we feel lifeless, we don't get proper sleep. Lavender is an excellent oil for inducing a soothing sleep and relaxes our mind to a large extent. In various aromatherapy session, it has been seen that inhaling lavender essential oil may significantly reduce the symptoms of PMS like pain, nausea, etc. You can also mix lavender oil with almond oil and massage on the abdomen which will cure the pain.

7. Avoid Heels

Most of us love wearing heels, but it is something you should avoid during menstruation. Wearing high heels causes tremendous pressure on the feet where the nerves meet. Therefore, it causes inflammation and increases swelling in the feet. After some time, you will notice continuous back aches and pain in the spinal cord which continues even after the cycle is complete. Some researchers also believe that wearing high heels for a long time will cause a delay of the menstruation and other complications.

8. Indulgent Cravings

Dark chocolate is a weakness we can hardly resist. So there's a good news for you all – dark chocolate is the best thing during PMS! During this time, our body loses magnesium which is very important for our body and dark chocolate exactly helps us regaining the nutrition. It also helps in dealing with the irrational craving we get to calm our crazy minds. It helps us in various ways like – reduces pain, boosts our mind, improves the skin and also provide us with iron content.

9. Food For Iron & Low Estrogen

95% of the women today suffers from anemia and with periods every month, they tend to lose more and more iron from the body. Hence various complications like cramps, lethargy, etc. arise. There are various foods with iron like spinach, lentils, chickpea, dark chocolate, raspberries and blueberries which would elevate the iron content and estrogen in our body to keep it healthy.

10. Easy Day Out

Nothing can make you feel better than a simple and easy day out with your girl gang. Catch up with the latest movie nearby to refresh the mood. You can also opt for shopping, which is like an instant mood changer for every girl. Indulge yourself in some work which is like your passion and enjoy the day to the fullest.

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Contributed By: Salomi Das